Ken Griffin, a significant donor to Republican politicians, is supporting the re-election of Miami-Dade County’s Democratic mayor because the Citadel founder expands his political affect in his new base.
Griffin, who moved to Miami from Chicago two years in the past, gave $500,000 to Danielle Levine Cava’s marketing campaign in June, in response to the submitting. Kava, 68, was elected the county’s first feminine mayor in 2020. The place is non-partisan.
A spokesman for Griffin didn’t instantly return an after-hours request for remark. Cava’s political motion committee has raised $1.6 million to date this 12 months, with Griffin making the most important particular person contribution.
Griffin, who’s price $42 billion, in response to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, has given greater than $60 million to Republican candidates this election cycle. After shifting to Miami in 2022, he vowed to get extra concerned in Florida politics and has made donations to different native politicians, together with Gov. Ron DeSantis and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez.
In South Florida’s multi-tiered construction of presidency, the county mayor wields much more energy than her metropolis counterparts, together with Suarez. In contrast to Suarez, a one-time Republican presidential contender who has come below fireplace for conflicts of curiosity in his part-time jobs, Cava’s place is full-time. Again in 2023, Griffin donated $1 million to Suarez’s native political motion committee.
As mayor of Miami-Dade County, Cava oversees 34 cities, together with Miami, with an annual price range of about $10 billion and practically 30,000 staff.
Griffin additionally gave cash to charities supported by Cava. That features $5 million for a park and bike path and $3 million to a nonprofit additionally supported by the Cava administration, the Miami-Dade Innovation Authority Inc., which awards grants to corporations working to handle points comparable to housing and local weather change .